Pages

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Middle-Grade/Teen Review – The Carpet People

I wasn’t sure how to classify Terry Pratchett’s charming
fantasy The Carpet People. It was
originally written for a general audience, published as a serial in the
newspaper, by the now-famous writer when he was only 17 years old. I think it
will appeal to all ages, from middle-grade readers all the way up to adults,
especially those who like whimsy and clever, fanciful adventure.

As the name suggests, The Carpet People is about a whole population of tiny beings who live
unseen among the carpet fibers. In fact, there are different races and tribes
of people and even animals living in the wilds of the carpet. This story
focuses on a tribe called the Munrungs, which is part of the Dumii Empire.
Specifically, the story is about two brothers. Glurk, a physical and
slow-thinking man, took over as Chieftan when his father, old Grimm Orkson,
died. Glurk’s younger brother, Snibril, is more of a cerebral young man who was
taught to read and write by Pismire, the tribe’s shaman.

When danger threatens their village, the nomadic Munrungs
set off on a journey across the carpet. It’s a dangerous journey, and along the
way, they meet other people whose customs and habits are much different than
the Munrungs. Eventually, they must overcome their fears of each other and band
together to defeat their common enemy.

To be honest, I’m not normally a fan of classic fantasy
stories with made-up people and beasts and worlds, but Pratchett’s unique story
is very clever, filled with humorous word play and lots of action. It easily
kept me entertained while I listened to it on audio, read by a talented
narrator who conveyed Pratchett’s sense of whimsy. The audio also included a
note from the author at the beginning, explaining how he first wrote The
Carpet People and then recently revised it
for this reprinting, and the unedited version of the original serial story
included at the end.

Later, I found out that the paper version is actually filled
with Pratchett’s own illustrations, amusing line drawings that bring the
Munrungs to life on the page, so this might be a case where the book has an
advantage over the audio. I also suspect that I may have missed some of the
clever word play in listening rather than reading, though the audio was very
entertaining. You can take a peek at some of the illustrations or listen to a
sample of the audio at the Amazon link included at the bottom of this post.

Overall, I enjoyed this clever and thoughtful story about
tribes of tiny people living in the carpet.Believe it or not, this was my very first Terry Pratchett
novel (his books have sold over 80 million copies!), so I think I will be
reading more of his work.